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Mt. Gox Begins Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Redemptions
Mount Gox said on Friday which has begun refunding customers, ending a nearly 10-year wait by some users to get their cryptocurrency back after a 2014 cyberattack forced the cryptocurrency exchange into bankruptcy.
The company was once the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, handling over 70% of all bitcoin (BTC) transactions in its early years. The hack resulted in the loss of approximately 740,000 bitcoins.
The announcement added selling pressure to Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market as a whole, after Mt. Gox announced last month that it plans to begin redemptions in July.
“Mt. Gox moved 47,228 BTC, signaling the start of their refund process, which has caused some fear in the market due to the large sell-off potential… However, it is worth noting that despite these concerns, the long-term impact may be less severe as the market gradually absorbs the selling pressure,” said Willy Chuang, COO of cryptocurrency exchange WOO X.
Some customers may have to wait up to 60-90 days to receive payouts, but Mark Karpeles, the exchange’s former CEO, confirmed in a direct message to CoinDesk on X that these are the worst numbers.
“These are deadlines related to the number of transfers to be processed, each exchange may have a slightly different internal policy and decide to credit everyone earlier or later,” he said.
Exchanges approved by the trustee to process refunds include Bitbank, BitGo, Bistamp, Kraken, and SBI VC Trade, a Japanese exchange.
UPDATE (July 5, 06:40 UTC): Adds additional information and market background.
UPDATE (July 5, 07:00 UTC): Adds analyst comments and bullet points.
UPDATE (July 5, 10:10 UTC): Adds quotes from Mark Karpeles in fifth paragraph, updates BTC price in fourth.